Deputy President William Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga are struggling to dissociate themselves from Jubilee government failures as they seek to convince Kenyans to elect them as president next year.
The duo who are both determined to succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta whose term limits come to an end in August 2022 are surely carrying with them the shame of the Jubilee government’s failures which they will find hard to shed off.
Whereas Raila Odinga supporters are accusing Ruto of derailing Jubilee’s development agenda following his fights with his boss, Ruto’s foot soldiers are on the other hand accusing the former Prime Minister of coming into government through the handshake and wreaking havoc by derailing its development plan.
Raila Odinga and his close allies have repeatedly been blaming William Ruto for Jubilee government failures.
Last month, Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu, a close confidant of Raila Odinga said Ruto’s preoccupation with the 2022 General Elections has not only widened the rift between him and his boss but is also derailing the Jubilee government’s development agenda.
“William Ruto needs to refocus and help President Uhuru Kenyatta deliver the promises they both made together to Kenyans,
“His engagement in 2022 sideshows with his lieutenants from within government only serves to derail government programs,” she said.
However, Ruto’s diehard and Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen on Monday, August 2, said that the second in command cannot be blamed for what has happened in the government over the past four years.
“He has not been part of the administration. He is there de jure but de facto he is not. The real Deputy President is Raila Odinga,” Murkomen said in an interview with Spice FM.
Uhuru’s administration has been heavily criticized following the unfulfilled promises it made during the 2013 and 2017 presidential campaigns which include the creation of employment opportunities as well as making healthcare free for all and making Kenya a food secure country.
In one of his media interviews, the DP said President Uhuru’s style of government changed immediately after the truce between him and the ODM leader through the famous 2018 handshake.
Ruto said this prompted him to distance himself from Jubilee’s failures by coming up with strategies that will set him apart from Uhuru’s administration.
Some of those strategies include recasting himself as the pro-poor, pro-youth leader with a promise to empower the common person through the bottom-up economic model.
The former Eldoret North MP even indirectly asked Raila Odinga to admit he has contributed to Kenya’s underdevelopment in the last three years.
“Be gentlemen and accept that you have caused the country monumental failure by virtue of overturning the priorities that we had,
“You will squarely have to carry the consequences of what has happened to us the last three years. It is obvious, every Kenyan knows,” Ruto said at a past event in what appeared to be directed to ODM leader Raila Odinga.
